Evgeny Evgenyevich Donskoy ( rus, Евге́ний Евге́ньевич Донско́й, , ɪ̯ɪvˈɡʲenʲɪɪ̯ dɐnˈskoɪ̯; born 9 May 1990) is a Russian professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. His career-high
ATP singles ranking is world No. 65, achieved on 8 July 2013, after winning five
Challenger events throughout the previous year.
Personal life
He was born and currently resides in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Donskoy was mentored by former player and two-time Grand Slam champion
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
. His favourite surface is hard courts.
Career
In 2010, Donskoy played doubles with the British player
Morgan Phillips
Morgan Walter Phillips (18 June 1902 – 15 January 1963) was a colliery worker and trade union activist who became the General Secretary of the British Labour Party, involved in two of the party's election victories.
Life
Born in Aberdare, Gl ...
at the Seville Challenger, losing in the first round.
By 2013, Marat Safin had built a coaching team for Donskoy that included Morgan Phillips.
Donskoy entered
2013 Australian Open's main draw for the first time, reaching the third round and defeating 23rd seed
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
en route. He also pushed
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
to three sets in the
Indian Wells Masters 1000
The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
event.
Consequently, Donskoy made his Davis Cup debut in
Europe/Africa Zone Group I match against Great Britain in
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
. Donskoy won the first rubber against
James Ward James Ward may refer to:
Military
*James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1864) (1833–?), American Civil War sailor
* James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1890) (1854–1901), American Indian Wars soldier
*James Allen Ward (1919–1941), New Zealand pilot and Vi ...
, 4–6, 4–6, 7–5, 6–2, 8–6, to help give Russia a 2–0 lead heading into the doubles rubber the following day. Great Britain won the doubles rubber, where Ward opened the day. Ward defeated
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a retired Russian tennis player and current tennis coach. At age 12 he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career-high singl ...
, 6–4, 5–7, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4, to level the tie.
Dan Evans ranked No. 325 would eventually complete a turnaround, with a straight sets victory over world no. 80 Donskoy.
Also for the first time, Donskoy entered the
2013 French Open's main draw, beating
Jan-Lennard Struff
Jan-Lennard Struff (; born 25 April 1990) is a German professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 29 in August 2020. In doubles, he achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 in October 2018. He ha ...
in the first round. At the
2013 TOPSHELF Open held in
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
, he took out third seed
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Considered one of the best servers ...
in the first round and beat
Robin Haase
Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player.
He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012, and has won two singles titles, at the Austrian Open in both 2011 and 2012. Haase also reac ...
in the second to reach his first ATP Tour quarterfinals.
In December 2014, Donskoy decided to join the team of Boris Sobkin, coach of
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
.
In 2016, Donskoy debuted at the
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
. He defeated 7th seed
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
in the second round, but then lost to
Steve Johnson in the third.
In 2017, Donskoy beat
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
champion
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
in the second round of the
Dubai Tennis Championships
The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
, having saved three match points in the second set, trailing 5–2 in the final set and down 5–1 in the final set tie-breaker. This was Donskoy's first career win over a top-ten player.
At the
2021 US Open he qualified for his ninth consecutive main draw appearance at this Major. He lost to
Felix Auger-Aliassime
Felix may refer to:
* Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name
Places
* Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen
* Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...
in the first round.
Style of play
Donskoy has very powerful, flat
groundstroke
In racket sports a groundstroke, or ground stroke, refers to a forehand or backhand shot that is executed after the ball has bounced on the court. The term is commonly used in the sports of tennis and pickleball, and is counter to a volley shot ...
s, especially his forehand, which can produce spectacular points but also a lot of unforced errors.
Challenger and Futures finals
Singles: 24 (14–10)
Doubles: 11 (5–6)
Performance timeline
''Current through the
2022 Australian Open
The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...
.''
Singles
Doubles
National representation
Davis Cup (5–6)
*
indicates the outcome of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.
ATP Cup (0–2)
Wins over top 10 players
Record against top 10 players
Donskoy's match record against those who have been
ranked
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second.
In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...
in the top 10. Players who have been No. 1 are in boldface.
''
As of 21 July 2021''
*
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
2–1
*
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimbledo ...
1–0
*
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
1–0
*
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas ( gr, Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 ...
1–0
*
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a younger brother, Geral ...
1–1
*
Lucas Pouille
Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...
1–1
*
Tommy Robredo
Tomás Robredo Garcés, known as Tommy Robredo (, ; born 1 May 1982), is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the Hamburg Masters ea ...
1–1
*
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
1–2
*
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Considered one of the best servers ...
1–2
*
James Blake 0–1
*
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...
0–1
*
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...
0–1
*
David Goffin
David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7. He is currently the Belgian No. 1, and the first Belgian man to be ranked in the top 10. Goffin has won six ATP titles ...
0–1
*
Tommy Haas
Thomas Mario Haas (; born 3 April 1978) is a German former professional tennis player. He competed on the ATP Tour from 1996 to 2017. After breaking into the world top 100 in 1997, and reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 in May ...
0–1
*
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...
0–1
*
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
0–1
*
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
0–1
*
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour.
...
0–1
*
Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, which he first achieved in March 2020. He is the second-highest r ...
0–1
*
Pablo Carreño Busta
Pablo Carreño Busta (; born 12 July 1991) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 10 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 11 September 2017. He also reached a best ...
0–2
*
Kei Nishikori
is an inactive Japanese professional tennis player. He is the second male Japanese player to have been ranked in the top 5 in singles (after Jiro Sato), and the only one to do so in the Open Era. Nishikori first reached his career-high singles ...
0–2
*
Alexander Zverev 0–2
*
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
0–3
*
Kevin Anderson 0–5
Team titles
;2021
*
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
winner with Russia
*
ATP Cup
The ATP Cup was an international outdoor hard court men's tennis team tournament, which ran from 2020 to 2022.The tournament was played across one or three Australian cities over ten days in the lead up to the Australian Open, and featured teams ...
winner with Russia
Awards
;2019
* The
Russian Cup in the nomination Team of the Year
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donskoy, Evgeny
1990 births
Living people
Tennis players from Moscow
Russian male tennis players
Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic tennis players of Russia
Universiade medalists in tennis
Universiade bronze medalists for Russia
Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade